Nature Photographer of the Year 2013

December 2013

The votes are in and have been counted... find out who has been crowned Sanctuary Retreats' Nature Photographer of the Year and is now the proud owner of a Go-Pro Hero 3...

We held our first photography competition to find Sanctuary's 2013 Nature Photographer of the Year. After nearly 200 entries and over 1300 votes later, we can now announce that the winner of Sanctuary Retreats' inaugural photography competition is Nico from Guilford, with his action shot of an 'Inquisitive elephant in Tanzania'.

Winner: 'Inquisitive elephant in Tanzania' by Nico from Guilford

Nico received an outstanding 213 public votes for his Nature Snap, closely followed by Dan from Guildford and Jessica from Preston, with an impressive 166 and 131 votes respectively.

Second place: 'Ocean's Flame! Herons fishing while the beautiful sun is setting during the Golden Hour.. peaceful end to the day' by Dan from Guilford

3rd place: 'Deer in Victoria Falls' by Jessica from Preston

Congratulations Nico, you are our 2013 Nature Photographer of the Year and soon to be the proud owner of a Go-Pro Hero 3!

Thank you to everyone who has entered and voted. We have thoroughly enjoyed looking through your fantastic entries; here are just a few of our personal favourites…

We love this striking potrait taken at Sanctuary Stanley's Camp in Botswana, 'It was our last morning at Stanley's Camp before heading to Chief's Camp. Our guide Allan promised us he would find some lions, and thankfully he was true to his word...we were enthralled and hypnotised by this majestic young male' by Peter from Sydney

This leopard was snapped at Sanctuary Chief's Camp, located in the predator capital of Africa, 'My wife, Debbie, asked Sky (our guide at Chief's Camp) to see a Leopard for her birthday. He found us this beautiful male, sitting in the tree, looking for an easy meal' by Bryan from Stamford

In our opinion, one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, 'The Great Migration' by Evan from Saint Petersburg

'Dustbuster' by Romano from Vryheid

What an incredible action shot! 'Hunter - hunted' by Michaela from Johannesburg

We always love to see your nature snaps and to hear what you got up to on your travels. Have you been to one of our lodges or camps, or on one of our cruises? Share your tales with us on our Facebook page.